Chapter 192: Ghosts in the Mist (Part-14) [Sealed With a Kiss (of Death)]

Chapter 192 - Ghosts in the Mist (Part-14) [Sealed With a Kiss (of Death)] Utakata had spent days layering seals across the entire mountain, etched into stone, inked beneath snowdrifts, burned into roots, hidden behind moss. From the outside, nothing looked different. But from the moment the first hunter-nin entered the range, he knew. The moment the last one crossed the threshold, he moved. In one smooth motion, he finished his sequence of hand seals and slammed both palms against the ground. Instantly, the seals hidden across the four cardinal directions around the mountain flared to life, lines of script glowing pale gold before rising into the sky and connecting with a low, thrumming sound. The Four Directions Trapping Barrier activated with a resonating hum that echoed faintly across the range. But Utakata didn't stop. He began another series of hand signs, his movements sharp but deliberate. As his chakra surged, ink-like threads burst outward from his body and crawled rapidly through the rock, invisible to anyone without a sensor's perception, but intimately familiar to him. The threads raced through the hidden veins of the mountain, connecting to the sealing formulas he'd carefully placed days prior. It was a massive circuit, recursive, interlinked, modular. And now, fully armed. The final connection was made and all threads tied into the base of the trapping barrier, forming a closed net. Utakata's eyes narrowed slightly as he sensed them. Roughly fifty hunter-nin, moving rapidly, descending the interior tunnels, unaware that the mountain had already become their coffin. Even though there were so many hunter-nins Utakata wasn't the least bit panicked. He made one final set of hand seals and pressed his hand to the mountain. Chakra surged again. Then the entire terrain shifted. Suddenly, all throughout the mountain, the hunter-nin felt it, the weight. Gravity surged around them like a crushing wave, pressing them down with brutal force. Those running faltered, legs buckling under pressure. Some face planted straight into the dirt, others stumbled to their knees. And then it got worse. From the ground beneath them, the sealing threads lit up. Those who had unknowingly stepped on them were instantly bound, the chakra-woven cords wrapping around ankles, wrists, and torsos with iron strength. A third of the force was immobilized on the spot, unable to even speak. The others immediately leapt into the air, trying to escape the seal's range. But the gravity didn't stop rising, it kept building, like a silent hand pushing them down harder and harder. Some barely got their feet off the ground before slamming back down. Others hovered for a moment before the seals flared again and brought them crashing down like rocks. Then came the avalanche. Rumbling deep in the mountain's core, sections of earth began to give way as Utakata triggered the next set of seals. Massive boulders, already positioned by Utakata earlier while he was placing the other seals, were released from their containment. Entire slopes began to crumble. The rocks came down like thunder, aimed precisely where the trapped hunter-nin were gathered. A few of the more experienced ones flared their chakra and began making hand seals to respond, earth walls, mist cover, escape techniques. But Utakata had accounted for that too. The final fail-safe triggered. Thin threads snapped as rope-bound launch rigs were released, and dozens of sealing platforms hidden across the mountain triggered at once. A barrage of kunai launched from every direction and not just a handful, but a storm. Over a thousand kunai, all guided by gravity resistant seals accelerated and rained down across the battlefield. Those bound by the earlier traps couldn't move. They were skewered instantly, throats, backs, skulls, hearts. Others, still attempting to defend themselves, barely managed to block a few before the weighted gravity dragged their limbs down. And then, the boulders landed. The air exploded with the sound of stone crushing bone. Some tried to crawl away, even sever their own limbs in desperation, but it didn't matter. For every rock they avoided, three more followed. The sequence was endless. Weight, blades, earth, the mountain itself bore down on them with relentless judgment. It was over in under three minutes. Back at the cave's entrance, Tenzo stood quietly, watching with wide eyes as the last tremors faded in the distance. Beside him, Utakata was already on one knee, gasping for breath, sweat rolling down his face. His hands trembled slightly from chakra exhaustion, his complexion pale. This had taken way more chakra than he had planned, usually such sealing formations were operated with one leader and a few others to support however he had modified this extensively combining multiple sealing formula's and barriers until he was finally able to make what he called the mountain entombment sealing array. Normal Fuinjutsu didn't require much chakra and a single activation often used no more than a flicker. Once set, most seals operated passively, their chakra consumption negligible. But this wasn't normal Fuinjutsu. A sealing array that covered an entire mountain required continuous chakra supply, not just for activation, but for sustained synchronization. If even one node failed, the entire formation could collapse, causing catastrophic rebound or total nullification. That's why such arrays were never intended for solo operation. They were designed for teams or Fuinjutsu squads and even Clans. Or a lone Uzumaki. Utakata was not one of them. He didn't have that monstrous chakra pool, that near-limitless endurance. But he had something else, precision and adaptability. This array had never been meant for him. He and his friend had designed it together, long ago, back when she was still alive. Back when it was just theoretical. A mountain-scale sealing trap that could entomb entire armies. She had enough chakra to run it alone, with power left over for an escape contingency. She would've called today's activation a warm-up. But Utakata... had to adapt. He had spent years reworking the design, dissecting every seal, optimizing every transition and feedback loop. Instead of brute force, he used layering, delayed triggers, and micro-infusion paths. Every circuit was calculated. Every pulse timed. All of it to reduce the chakra load enough that he could run it solo, just once, when it truly mattered. And today, it had worked. Even now, drained and pale, with his back against the cave wall and lungs struggling to pull in air, he smiled. A little further off, Tenzo was staring at the distant carnage with a faint look of disbelief. He hadn't even seen the battlefield as they were far enough that not a single trap had gone off nearby and yet the sheer presence of death hung in the air. The screams had cut off too fast. The air was still heavy with blood and suppressed chakra. He turned back to Utakata. "Are you alright? Should I call the medics?" Utakata shook his head, still panting, voice low but steady. "No need. I'll recover. Just... takes a bit." Tenzo didn't argue. He'd seen enough from the sidelines to know better than to press. Instead, he nodded and turned back toward the inner chambers of the cave. "I'll take a team and handle the cleanup," he said. "No more hunter-nin should be arriving since so many of them arrived together, but we need to reset the terrain. Burn the bodies. Smooth the collapse. If even a hint of what happened here got leaked all of the mist shinobi might just come here to capture you." "Exactly," Utakata murmured. "Thank you." Tenzo left with a few agents in tow to clean up the mountains, and he knew that this clean up would take up so much of his time because even from this far he could smell the thick pungent smell of blood so there must be a lot to cleanup. Alone again, Utakata leaned his head back against the rock, feeling the damp coolness seep into his skin. His breathing had slowed, though the ache in his arms and legs was still pulsing. He didn't mind it. He looked up at the sky. The clouds were beginning to break apart, streaks of blue showing through the grey. A faint smile crossed his lips. "One more done," he whispered. "Only one left now..." He closed his eyes for a moment. "...Kushina." ~~~ In the Terumi clan compound, inside the clan leader's office. Shinjiro was seated behind his desk when there was a knock on the door. He glanced up and spoke, "Come in." The door opened, and Old Man Dogen stepped inside. Without waiting for permission, he took a seat in front of the desk and got straight to the point. "I just received reports from our spies in the capital. The Mizukage's hounds have been wreaking havoc there for the past few days. It looked like they were chasing someone, though no one knows who. But in the process, they caused a lot of chaos and now, there's word that the Daimyo is furious." Shinjiro's expression tightened into a frown. "Has Yagura truly gone mad? Not even controlling his dogs in front of the Daimyo?" Dogen gave a small grunt. "I doubt this is Yagura's doing. He's not the type to bother with small fry. If he really wanted to pick a fight with the Daimyo, he wouldn't waste time, he'd kill him outright. He's one of those." Shinjiro leaned forward slightly, brows drawn together. "Then who is it?" "My guess," Dogen said slowly, "is that a Leaf shinobi is behind this. There's already a manhunt happening, and most of the hunter-nin are busy chasing their main target. So it makes no sense for a few of them to split off and head to the capital, unless they were chasing someone specific." Shinjiro's frown eased, replaced by something closer to grim admiration. "They're bold. Daring enough to stir up a foreign nation's Daimyo just to keep a few hunter-nin busy." Dogen nodded in agreement. "Right. But that aside, this is our chance. There's no evidence of any Leaf shinobi being in the capital, and the only thing everyone's talking about is the chaos caused by the hunter-nin. That's the narrative. This gives us an opportunity to gain the Daimyo's support." There was a sharp gleam in the old man's eyes now as he leaned forward. "The Daimyo's furious, but he's both a coward and extremely petty. He probably wants to strike back at the Mizukage, but he's also scared of Yagura's power. If we play our cards right, we can convince the Daimyo that we'll be the sword he needs to cut down Yagura's regime. All without dirtying his own hands." Shinjiro's grip tightened around the armrest as he nodded. "If the Daimyō agrees to support us... food, weapons, funding, all of it becomes ours. We'd be able to fight Yagura's faction head-on." "Exactly," Dogen said. "That's why I'll go to the capital myself. I'll take Mangetsu with me. With him by my side, we'll have a much better chance of convincing the Daimyo. Not to mention it'll make the journey a lot safer." Shinjiro nodded again. "Yes... taking Mangetsu is the right call." He sighed. "We're fortunate Mangetsu is from the Hozuki clan. If both he and Kisame were under Yagura's banner, we'd be in far deeper trouble." Dogen's face was serious now. "And it helps that Mangetsu has no interest in becoming Mizukage. If he did, Mei would face a lot of problems down the line." He stood up and brushed off his robe. "I'll leave as soon as I can." Shinjiro rose as well. "Safe travels. I hope you succeed." Then he paused, thoughtful. "Are you going to hint to the Daimyo about the Leaf's involvement in the capital's chaos?" Dogen shook his head. "No. It's better to keep that to ourselves. The Daimyo wouldn't dare confront Yagura directly, and Yagura certainly won't explain himself to the Daimyo. Keeping the Leaf's involvement quiet could give us some leverage later, if we ever end up clashing with them or if we later need their help." Shinjiro nodded silently as he watched the old man leave. A moment later, he called Mei into the office. She would need to learn how to handle matters like this in the future. And it was time she started understanding how to carry the weight of a clan. ~~~~~ {How did you think that sealing array was, I tried my best not to make it similar to those array in the cultivation novels, but if it did become something like that then do inform me, I'll change things in the future then.} {Also, next Chapter, Ren and Kisame, Boom Boom, it's divided in two Chapters so if you wanna read them together complete the goal and you'll get the Chapter} {If you want, you can support me on pat-reon} { h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n } {You know what else} {280 Stones = Extra Chapter} {STONES!!!!}